Derval O'Rourke: Take a Running Jump!

How was it growing up Cork?
Great because you had so many good sports people from Cork. Munster rugby was starting to get big and you had Roy Keane and Denis Irwin, and Sonia O’Sullivan in athletics. The standard was very high.
Which one of those stars would you put up on your wall?
I wanted to be as good as Sonia. Even when I was quite young I knew how amazing she was. I looked up to her. Then, when I went to my first Olympics, I was really disappointed – and I sent her an email afterwards and she wrote me back a brilliant note giving me loads of advice and it was actually really helpful. I still get a little bit star-struck when I see Sonia.
Do you have a favourite place to relax in Cork?
There’s a lovely beach, not that far from where I live, called Fountainstown Beach. I go down there with my dog. That’s a great thing about Cork: I live in the city but in 15 minutes I can be near the sea.
What got you into running?
There’s a great initiative in Cork called Cork City Sport for Kids – it’s in Park Uí Chaoimh. They run trials in every primary school and the two fastest kids go and represent the school – so when I was seven I went and ran, representing St. Columba’s primary school in Douglas and I came second. I remember it was just the biggest thing in the world to me – it was absolutely magical.
And that was the start of it all?
Yeah, my dad claims that he knew I was fast. Then I joined Leevale AC, which is still my running club. I was lucky to have access to all of that.
You seem to have very strong self-belief; where does that comes from?
I think it’s part of my Cork blood. I have the belief that I can be the best in the world, and on a few days of the year, I’m actually good enough that I can compete with the best. I just have to make sure that that’s on the big race days!
You narrowly missed out on a medal in the European Indoor Championships in March.
I’d had a very, a very bad injury leading up to it and missed a lot of training. From my point of view it was frustrating because if my preparations had been the same as the other three girls, I felt I would have won it. I only missed winning by hundreths of a second.
It must hurt when you miss by such a small margin.
The percentages are tiny. It’s probably like the length of your hand – at the same time I’ve often won races by a couple of hundreths so that’s just the world we operate in. Actually now, it turns out the girl who won has tested positive so I might still get that medal.
How did you feel when you heard Nevin Yanit had tested positive?
Sometimes there are question marks over people, but I don’t think it’s fair to voice those unless there is a positive test. I would never have voiced any of my doubts about Nevin Yanit. But now that there is a positive test it’s fairer for me to say I would have wondered in the past about her. So it’s more of a relief that the drug tests are catching people doing things that they shouldn’t be doing.
What was your reaction to the Lance Armstrong fiasco?
Everybody has to make their own decisions and live with them. I do think it’s unfair to people like me who do it clean when people are cheating you out of medals. Hopefully I will get that medal from the European Indoors but Nevin Yanit won the European outdoor championships in 2010 and beat me by two hundreths of a second. I will probably never get that European Outdoor title. I don’t understand how it would have been a sudden thing that she’d just decide to start taking drugs this year. There should be a retrospective investigation, but I don’t think there will be.
Has Athletics Ireland got in touch with you about getting that medal?
No, I’ve heard nothing other than what everyone heard on the news. As far as I can tell, there is a process where she has to defend the allegations and until that process is completed then I can’t be given a medal. I just have to wait, but nobody has contacted me.
Do you feel a bit let down by that?
You have to give people the benefit of the doubt. In the case of Nevin Yanit, she tested positive and that has to be a good thing. They are catching her. I love the sport and I love to run so I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. I’d turn into a crazy person if I did.
What kind of music are you into?
For training, I listen to a lot of Jay Z, Kanye West, a bit of Macklemore at the moment. That kind of stuff.
Do you go to festivals at all?
I’m a big music head, but when music is on in Cork, I’m generally not there. The gigs I go to are nearly always in Dublin.
What do you think is special about Cork?
We have an attitude that if we try really hard we will be good at things. So we have that Cork confidence – we like to call it ‘Cork Swagger’. Also people in Cork are very supportive.
You are a supporter of Cork University Hospital.
Myself and my fiancé are patrons. A friend of mine was a doctor there and my sister had to have surgery there recently, so I’ve seen the hospital from so many different perspectives. I did a bit of work trying to get people to run the Cork marathon on their behalf to fundraise. Cork University Hospital is just amazing; it really is the people’s hospital.
Have you a favourite Cork personality?
Cillian Murphy is an awesome actor. I met him and he comes across as a really nice, normal guy. There are people who want to be famous for the sake of being famous and then there are people who are brilliant at what they do – he’s one of those.
What do you think of
Simon Zebo?
Oh my god! Simon Zebo was in my running club when he was young; I know Simon’s family really well. I know his sister a lot better. Jessica is the talented one (laughs). I think he’s done brilliantly. I love watching him for Munster because I remember him running around the track as a little kid. He was fast then, but I think his sister was faster
Are you hoping to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio?
I’m really hoping not to be in Rio. I hope to be retired by then. I think I could still be running fast in 2016 – but the way athletics is structured in Ireland, once you get to your late 20s/early 30s, I there’s not as big a place for you in the sport. It would be such a massive struggle for me – not physically, but financially – to get to Rio. I’ve had such a great career that I wouldn’t want to keep dragging it on, just to get to another Olympic games.
What has been the highpoint?
Probably winning the World Indoors. I was the best in the world in that moment. But I mean all of them have been amazing for different reasons and in different ways.
Do you have any plans for after you’re finished running?
I’m not sure. I always have other stuff going on. I’ve got a pretty good degree and then I went and did a postgrad and after my postgrad I did a masters, and I’ve worked a little bit on and off. But I don’t know...
You live in Dublin; do you miss Cork?
I go home a lot. Ultimately, I’ll live down in Cork when I retire from running. To me Cork is home.

Derval’s Recommendations
Restaurants
I love going to Kinsale to eat. The Fishy Fishy Cafe has some gorgeous seafood. The last place I went to in Cork city was The Ambassador Chinese – the atmosphere is great, the staff are lovely and it’s always busy, which is a good sign.

Bars
If I’m going out for a glass of wine I generally go to Barry’s in Douglas – it’s a lovely pub. Down in my fiancé’s neck of the woods I go to Cronin’s Pub in Crosshaven. That has a beautiful restaurant too.

Shops
I love to shop in Cork because everything is quite close together. Brown Thomas is amazing. Opera Lane is a lovely area that has loads of interesting shops.